Born From the DSA

After Tuesday’s primary results, officeholders and pundits from the Democratic Party establishment went on a full-on offensive against the insurgent Democratic Socialists of America.

Irony abounded as allegations that voter fraud and funny business with failing “zip drives” were used to allegedly keep socialist internet-star state Rep. Francesca Hong from winning the gubernatorial primary in Wisconsin by 4,000 votes to David Crowley who, if you believe polls, was trailing by over 10% coming into Tuesday.

Weird, huh? Maybe we can ask Elaine Luria and Liz Cheney to look into it for us?

The media, sensing a “Survivor”-esque controversy, started dragging members of the Democratic Party into a Wednesday of angst-riddled commentary and hackneyed platitudes like “We’re a ‘Big Tent’ party.”

It began with former congressman-turned-TV-show host Joe Scarborough, after going on his own highly aggressive rant regarding Democrat socialism in the party. “I think most mainstream voters would say they’re whacked-out things, when they’re talking about going to pro-Hamas rallies the day after Hamas slaughtered more Jews than on any day since the Holocaust. I think 90% of Americans would think that is abhorrent.” And by the afternoon it had made it all the way to the Virginia governor’s mansion.

Scarborough, who while representing Florida’s panhandle in Congress from 1994-2001, was a member of the “Contract With America” coalition that called for sweeping cuts in the U.S. government, including plans to “privatize, localize, consolidate, or eliminate” the Departments of Commerce, Education, Energy and Housing and Urban Development.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich even chose Scarborough to head the task force on cutting the Department of Education. To which Scarborough said, “Our goal is to get as much money, power, and authority out of Washington and get as much money, power, and authority into the classroom as possible.” Funny how he has such animus toward President Donald Trump.

Not being who they appear to be seems to be part of the party platform. Among the Democrats being asked “the question” was Gov. Abigail Spanberger who, on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” ostensibly to humble-brag about her attempts to influence the merger of Dominion Energy and Florida’s NextEra, was asked how reconciling the DSA candidates into the future of the party “ultimately shakes out.”

Before I share her answer, remember that she has, since taking office just seven months ago, attempted to oversee a massive gun ban that the courts have already ruled unconstitutional in other states (see New Jersey) and a massive expansion of sales taxes that were “tabled” when the voters caught wind of them. (‘Tabled’ meaning they will be brought back by the General Assembly in January.)

All this after campaigning as “a moderate” who just wanted to “protect Virginians from the ‘chaos’ of the Trump administration” and their DOGE cuts.

Hey Guv, look back on what ol’ ‘Morning Joe’ was going to try and do in the 1990s!

So, Virginia’s governor said, with a straight face I should point out, “Anyone who’s running for office should be telling voters what it is they are for, what it is they intend to do, who they are as people, what experience they bring to bear.” (Emphasis added.)

To his credit, host Andrew Ross Sorkin pressed Spanberger on support for defunding the police and support for Hamas’ antisemitic rhetoric. The governor went on to toss a two-minute-long “word salad,” saying that first responders were important for responding to floods and never said anything about Hamas until the show cut away to break.

Before you get too excited about all this “Democrat Disarray,” keep this in mind: How would one rebrand the party of Obamacare whose 2026 candidates (like Tom Perriello, who was there in 2010) are campaigning on addressing the high costs of healthcare? A party that wants Virginia voters to ignore that the rising costs of electricity are because of Gov. Ralph Northam’s “Clean Virginia 2030” economic ‘suicide pact’ with California?

Create a ‘boogeyman’ party that wants most of the same stuff but seems “more radical.”

There is a species of fish called, and I’m not making this up, the blue catfish, and it lives in the James River near Richmond. I think the Democratic Party needs a new mascot.

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